Forgiveness and Repentance

Forgiveness is always a big problem for many. Writing in Bible & Life, a seminary moral professor, gives us some thoughts on forgiveness and its meaning for a Christian.
 
He recalls seeing the movie 'Secret Sunshine' which opened in 2007. It moved him deeply. A child of a widow had been abducted and killed. She had become a Christian and her new found faith was asking her to forgive so she visited the prison to forgive the killer of her son.
 
She told the prisoner she was there to forgive him. However, he told her very calmly that he also had become a Christian and had been forgiven by God. She was the one he should be asking for forgiveness and hearing the words of the prisoner, destroyed the little faith she had. "The story of a Bug" on which the movie was based had for its theme: A person who takes away the opportunity to forgive is less than a bug. The movie leaves us with a number of questions.
 
Who is forgiving and why the forgiving? We all remember cases where harm was done to us either physically or mentally and we found it difficult to forgive. In the confessional, this is one of the more frequent sins confessed. Why is it so difficult to forgive?
 
Strictly speaking, it is only with the help of God that it is possible.The reason for forgiveness is to remove the injustice that was committed and to return to pre-injustice situation. Asking for forgiveness, we want to return to a time we are no longer a sinner. This is only possible with God. Like in the movie 'Secret Sunshine', after we inflict pain to another is all we need to do is go to God for forgiveness? Obviously not—we can not make our sinful actions disappear. God is the God of truth.
 
What is necessary is the person who has inflicted pain needs to face the sin and repent and to ask for forgiveness. We need the humility and courage to ask for forgiveness. However, knowing this the giving of forgiveness is not easy for we don't do it with the head but with the heart. At times we want to forgive with the head but the heart doesn't want to go along.

Those who refuse to forgive are pained from two sides. One is from the material loss and mental suffering from the action of the other and the breakdown of the relationship with the other. Because of this, there are many who  can't live a normal life. Those who can't forgive and those who need to be forgiven both are in pain.
 
Consequently, repentance and forgiveness, the one who has committed the injustice and the one who suffered both have diminished their freedom and are in search of it. Forgiveness allows one to become free from the scars inflicted and to regain freedom. Forgiveness is the weapon that is to overcome the ever-present sin that spreads in the world. Both the one who forgives and the one forgiven are able to grow in spiritual maturity and in knowledge of God's love
 
With this in mind we can speak out like St. Paul in Romans 5:20: "However great the number of sins committed, grace was even greater."

Reasons For Fake News

In journalism giving a title to a story or article is of great importance, consequently it takes time to select one that is proper. Editorial staff take the article from the reporters and compress the entire article with a few words. The principle of journalism that it should be accurate, fair and objective is fundamental. It must be core, easy and sensible, and reflect the identity and dignity of the medium. A one time editorial staff member of a Korean newspaper gives us some thoughts to remember.

"How do you choose a title that catches the eyes of readers while keeping all these conditions?" This is the concern of the editorial writers that have been handed down since the beginning. With titling the natural temptation of exaggeration or distortion is present. The rule should be to represent the core content of the article and not exaggerate or distort.

An article with an exaggerated or distorted title was not called fake news. It was untrue news, non-truth news. However, in addition to traditional media such as newspapers, broadcasts, online news, and  one-person media based on them: podcasts, blogs, and SNS the appearance of fake news has increased greatly.

"Fake News" as well as the contents of articles and  'fake titles' has become enormous. On the Internet  if someone clicks on a sultry title often the "fake title"  has nothing to do with the contents of the article. Editors tend to be fascinated by titles because of economic interests that try to increase ad revenue by increasing readership. Clicks are money, attracting attention earns money. 

The best journalism technology is also in crisis. Traditionally newspapers and related online media have less of a problem but they suffer also from "clicks" because of media competition for advertising. "In the case of online media, one can not give up on a pseudo-title or a distorted title because the click counts for a great part of the total revenue," says one editor of a daily newspaper. If the title of the online news is selected like the title of a newspaper,  netizens usually ignore it. The classic pattern for exaggerating and distorting the title for economic reasons in the past was different.

A second reason for choosing an exaggerated title is  the philosophy, ideology or sentiment of the media. The liberal or conservative ideology of the owners of the media will influence the way the news is delivered. Putting the word extreme into the article without any objective reason for the use gives away the ideolgy of the media and tells the reader where the media is coming from. For this reason,    disciplinary action taken by the Korean Newspaper Ethics Committee is at times necessary.

The third reason is the editors' prejudices about the contents of an article:  "'A' received 10 billion won under investigation on charges of embezzlement," he may choose to skip under investigation and simply write charged with embezzlement.

Whatever the reason, they all choose "what the editor wants, not the article content." "It is time to follow the journalists' adage that the reporter should write only what he knows and the editor should select only from the contents of the the reporter for the titles.